Chapter 604: Fish's Final Step of the Plan (Edited)

Another Attack on a Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor - A Curse or a Conspiracy?

By Rita Skeeter

The position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts has always been a dangerous one, and no wizard has been able to hold the position securely for more than a year.

For more information on the history of Defense Against the Dark Arts professors at Hogwarts, refer to issue 68 of this year's Daily Prophet, page 2, written by the author.

According to my investigations, there is a rumor circulating at Hogwarts that a curse was placed on the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor when You-Know-Who failed in his attempt to secure the position, which has led to the annual disappearance of the professor.

Let's set aside the question of whether the curse still lingers after You-Know-Who's defeat over a decade ago. In previous years, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor has only remained in the position for about a year.

However, this year, the new High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, Dolores Umbridge, who is also a distinguished Ministry of Magic official, was attacked by an unknown assailant less than a month into the school year. In light of the recent educational reforms by the Ministry at Hogwarts, the true nature of the situation must be considered.

"I have reason to believe that this is Dumbledore's way of counteracting the Ministry," said Mr. Pius Thicknesse, Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. "Dumbledore saw Hogwarts as his own backyard, completely beyond anyone else's boundaries."

"Mrs. Umbridge was found at the entrance to the Headmaster's office," said a source from the Ministry of Magic.

Now, poor Mrs. Umbridge is being treated at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, having lost her memory of the attack and been brutally transformed by her assailants into a grotesque half-human, half-frog form.

The healers at St. Mungo's have not yet been able to find an effective treatment, and Mrs. Umbridge seems to be experiencing some issues with her mental state, which prevented me from conducting an interview.

"Her situation is very complicated," said a Healer from the Spell Damage Unit. "She has been subjected to several terrible poisonous spells and powerful transfiguration spells, which have created fascinating reactions among them, greatly hindering our treatment."

"We used the diagnostic spell on her and discovered that she had consumed at least three or more potions. Among the isolated magical potions, most of which had never been seen before and must have been researched and concocted by the attacker, the only one that could be identified was the Forgetfulness Potion."

According to the healers at St. Mungo's, it is impossible for a person who has taken the Forgetfulness Potion to recover their lost memories, making it almost impossible to identify the attacker by Mrs. Umbridge.

We still do not know why the assailant is attempting to erase Mrs. Umbridge's memories. Could it be one of the Hogwarts professors, or someone known to Mrs. Umbridge?

Perhaps the assailant of Mrs. Umbridge has some hidden motive against Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, but that does not deter the Ministry from reforming education at Hogwarts.

Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge stated, "The Ministry will not be deterred by the slightest difficulty, and the attack on Mrs. Umbridge is further evidence of the need for the Ministry to reform Hogwarts. We will further strengthen the administration of Hogwarts and decide to implement the Twenty-Fourth Education Decree as soon as possible!"

...

This article by Rita Skeeter appeared on the front page of today's edition of the Daily Prophet, accompanied by two photographs of Umbridge.

One showed her in her usual form, wearing her pink attire, smiling, and winking.

The other depicted Umbridge, half-human, half-toad, dressed in an oversized hospital gown, panicking and covering her face with her hands, but her enormous toad-like face couldn't be fully concealed.

Hermione set aside the Daily Prophet she was holding.

Yesterday, when Professor McGonagall had asked Fish if he had done anything else, Fish denied it, but there was something peculiar about his response. Later, under pressure from Professor McGonagall, Fish had to admit that he had also informed Rita Skeeter about what he was planning, hoping she would help spread the news...

In truth, Fish didn't attach much importance to it; he just wanted as many people as possible to witness Umbridge's misfortune.

Professor McGonagall and Hermione remained worried that Rita Skeeter might betray Fish, and Snape even offered to go and modify her memory.

But Fish prevented him from doing so.

Now it seemed that Rita had lived up to Fish's trust and was as efficient as ever.

Relieved, Hermione looked at Fish, who was attentively having breakfast, with a complex gaze.

"Nya?"

Ψ (??~??)

Fish caught her gaze, looked at her over his shoulder, and handed her the fork he had in his hand.

"Ah~"

"... ah~"

Hermione looked at the pork chop being brought to her mouth, hesitated, and opened her mouth anyway.

"Is it good?"

"Yes." Hermione smiled and nodded.

Fish returned the smile and nodded back, then continued eating.

Apart from Hermione, the rest of the class, after seeing Umbridge's photo in the Daily Prophet, immediately became convinced of who the real attacker was, and they all looked at Fish...

Then they saw the scene where Fish fed something to Hermione.

The boys were fine with it, but the girls were a bit more uncomfortable, as they had seen it happen more than once, yet there were still many young witches who would have loved to be in Hermione's place.

After averting their gaze from Fish, everyone happily continued discussing Umbridge's new appearance. She was already unpopular, and now that Fish had achieved this, nobody would pity her.

After swallowing the pork chop Fish had fed her, Hermione asked in a low voice, "Fish, could you contact Skeeter and ask her to publish a story about You-Know-Who's resurrection?"

"I can't, nya."

Fish shook his head and said, "When Fish asked for Rita's help, she told Fish that all articles speaking for Dumbledore would be rejected by the editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet, nya." He pointed at the newspaper Hermione had placed on the table. "She also told Fish that if he truly wanted the article to be published, he would have to defy the Ministry of Magic..."

"Fish thought Albus wouldn't be afraid of this article anyway, so he agreed, nya." Fish shrugged and said indifferently.

Although he didn't usually read the newspaper at all, Hermione always read him any important news, so Fish was aware of the recent bias of the Daily Prophet.

Upon receiving Fish's response, Hermione sighed and gave him an understanding look. She had anticipated this would happen, but it was a pity that the truth hadn't been spread.

If only we could find a newspaper that dared to go against the Ministry of Magic...

Miss Know-It-All thought with some regret.